Shadowstrike's (hi)Story

Kit-hood

Darksky rarely came to visit his son, but when he did Shadowkit dreaded his father’s personality. Darksky was ruthless and encouraged his son to fight roughly with others, he wouldn’t hesitate to make his son feel bad by telling him how disappointed he was. 

Shadowkit did not hate his father for who the tom was, his mother would tell him at night stories of how his father could take on the strongest of enemy warriors without fear…but fear was what Shadowkit really felt about his father, he did not want to become like him, a cat who scared others so much even the clan leader would act differently around him…cold and harsher than usual…

Time flew by and Shadowkit spent his days with a small group of kits who only saw him who he really was…a pushover.
Shadowkit was often dragged into trouble by other kits, too afraid to speak up for himself. He usually would escape most of the telling off but his weakness frustrated him. 

Apprentice-hood
Life began to lighten up for Shadowpaw, his mentor was a talented warrior known as Ashennight would take him out to train. When both weren’t at camp they would change, opening up and willing to speak their feelings. Ashennight was a brave cat and he wouldn’t hesitate to point out the obvious trait of the young apprentice that made him a better cat than his father and he would do his best to work on those. He insisted the Shadowpaw was the cat to be feared and not his father he helped the apprentice to train to be a good fighter like Darksky but with the pity and understand that his strength was only needed for self-defence, he would encourage Shadowpaw to discuss the aspects of Starclan and to go by the belief that there was always too sides to a story. 

Shadowpaw was gradually becoming a more confident cat, one younger apprentices would look up to when he began to show his braver side in camp, actually standing up against those who had called him weak during his kithood. 

One evening while he was out recovering from a small injury received during an argument with another apprentice that had broken into a fight he came across three lost kittypet. Instead of attacking them on sight the tom warned them that his clan was pitiless with trespassers and guided them over to other clan territory, careful to cover up their scent trail on the way.

During his time with the three lost siblings he had time to talk with them, their names were Shimmer, Silver and Stealth. Turned out they were searching for Lakeclan which they believed to have lived in before they got taken by twolegs. That’s where he last saw them, having already developed a crush on the youngest she-cat Silver. 
Next gathering he met up with the group again, turned out they had been Boulderstar’s children. But even with the enmity between their clan he took the time to talk with the newly made Silverpaw. Agreeing to meet her every half-moon near the pillars in secret, where they would spent time laughing and talking about their clan life. Shadowpaw was good at keeping his meetings a secret and since it wasn’t too frequent he did not seem tired constantly and therefore nobody noticed anything.

Everything seemed to be getting better for the tom, until a big change occurred in Stoneclan near his 12th moon. 

Darksky had been reporting Streamclan scents on their side of the border and Eaglestar had finally given in to his warriors’ pleas. The clan would launch an attack. 
The battle was the first of many that Shadowpaw would live through during his lifetime, but this battle was the one to begin his problems. 
Eaglestar was killed by a group of Streamclanners who ganged up against him, the killing blow made by a warrior known as Snaketail. Streamclan too lost their deputy that day, but for Stoneclan it was the decent into a nightmare, Shadowpaw’s nightmare. 
Darksky had finally become leader. 

That night the new leader called his clan, assigning the role of deputy to a warrior known as Foxtail. The tom had been a loyal follower of Darksky during his deputyship and now he was being rewarded for his belief. But just like several other cats Shadowpaw knew Foxtail tended to act differently around various cats, being more prone to anger and coldness when with his leader. 

Shadowpaw was also made warrior, but very few celebrated the news. And in fact the new warrior was grateful for the silence he had to go through during his vigil, this gave him one night to recover from his shock.

Warrior-hood

At the next gathering Darkstar openly declared war on Lakeclan, warning them he would do everything in his power to take back the honour which was theirs. 
Things began to get heated when Darkstar began launching several raids on the enemy clan’s border. Giving his warriors permission to cross onto the other’s land while hunting. 

Many cats died that way, on both sides.

But even with the sudden developed enmity between their parents Shadowstrike and Silverdrop continued to meet, however choosing to do so every second moon now that sneaking out of camp was much harder. The two lovers preferred to stay apart during gathering, only briefly speaking to each other by walking past to whisper in the other’s ear on their way back.

A moon went by where Shadowstrike spent his time leading patrols that he made sure did not wander near Lakeclan territory. As a part of Darkstar’s family the leader’s son and mate were given chores to do, mostly involving things of equal purpose of what Foxtail had to do as deputy. 

But everything changed in his life of worry when a small kit known as Coalkit was blinded in one eye by a weasel while wandering out of camp. Pitiless Coalkit’s mother demanded that Darkstar changed his daughter’s name to Scarkit so that her wound would forever be remembers. While the kits and younger apprentices were unsure how to react the Stoneclan warriors were clear that a half blind kit could be of no use to the clan in times of war. Even at a young age Scarkit’s fate seemed to have been decided for her by the older cats, nobody wanted to be her mentor. 

When young Scarkit and her brother Lotuskit reached 6 moons Darkstar called a ceremony, making a warrior known as Stonefall as Lotuspaw’s mentor. He decided to move young Scarpaw to the elder’s den. But that’s when his son objected. Shadowstrike faced his father in front of all the clan, telling him off by saying that many cats had lost eyes in battle and that a young kit could easily be made warrior. In response to this since no cat offered to be mentor fearing their leader's wrath Darkstar decided to “punish” his son by making him the new mentor of Scarpaw. 

The young warrior immediately got down to work by helping his apprentice figure out how to work with her injury. Contrary to what many cats had believed the young Scarpaw was not useless at all, in fact even if it took her a while to learn she did become a good fighter. Managing to trip and destabilize her own mentor in training more than once. But this did not prevent her from being teased by older cats and other claners, and Shadowstrike was completely useless at helping her out, not knowing how to step in. He slowly regained the reputation of giving in to what he was told to do, something other Stoneclan warriors saw a flaw.

The fights with Lakeclan were become more and more vicious, angered that Boulderstar wasn’t taking his threats too seriously Darkstar finally decided to launch an attack on camp. Forcing his warriors and apprentices to literally swim across. Many Stoneclaner died that night, not from the battle itself in fact…but from drowning on the way there. Ashennight was among the cats to die before the fight even began. 

That night Stoneclan return in defeat, but this only served to fuel Darkstar’s hatred. He ordered that every warrior and apprentice would learn how to swim in the swampy part of their territory that bordered Shallowclan. 

But the damage was done, and this caused many cats to start questioning their leader…in secret out of fear of death. Only one cat ever openly challenged Darkstar’s way and got away alive. It was Gravityfalls. 

Shadowstrike’s mother was fed up with the ways her mate was treating her, her son and the clan. She declared in the middle of Stoneclan camp that she was no longer Darkstar’s mate anymore and wouldn’t take up with his bullying. She then proceeded to leave her clan, never to be seen again by Stoneclaner. 

This was how Shadowstrike lost his mother…

As more and more cat began to get better at swimming Darkstar continued to attack Lakeclan, until the enemy clan decided to fight back. They ambushed Stoneclan camp and destroyed the clan’s herb supply. Very few cats suffered fatal injuries but Foxtail was one among those to die…from blood loss and lack of medical care.  

That night Stoneclan cats no longer questioned their leader for attacking, Lakeclan had killed their deputy and they were to be punished. But first Darkstar had to assign a new deputy, and much to the stupefaction of many he chose his own son…

There were many objections to Shadowstrike become deputy, many cats believed since he was strong at fighting but weak at supporting small injuries if he ever did become leader he would make Stoneclan the mockery of the other clans. But Darkstar did not change his mind, his son was to be deputy, as all he really trusted to do the jobs for him was one that shared his bloodline…

Deputy-hood

Shadowstrike had to work hard to prove himself worthy of deputy, many looked down upon him with scrutiny. His apprentice was made warrior known as Scareye, a name that the newly made deputy had to work had not to object to.

Life seemed busier as time went on and the new deputy spent most of his nights outside of camp sleeping where it was much calmer. Of course this also meant cats did not suspect anything whenever he took the chance to meet up with Silverdrop.

The Lakeclan warrior was delighted to hear he had become deputy, much to the tom’s surprise. She told him if he ever became leader he would make his clan something better than his father was doing. This was enough to give him hope, maybe one day he could make Lakeclan an ally of Stoneclan and maybe even have Silverdrop join his clan in a safe environment. From the onwards the tom was careful to count the number of times his father would lose a life.

Even though life in Stoneclan seemed to be the worst it had ever been since Eaglestar’s rule, many of the cats no longer remembered a life without hatred towards Lakeclan. And Shadowstrike truly feared how the next generation of kits would be raised…

…And it turned to the very next litter of kits was his apprentice’s.

Scareye had managed to win the love of a brave tom known as Larkshard. But sadly the father of the litter was killed in a small skirmish with Streamclan by a warrior known as Weaselclaw before his mate discovered she was even pregnant. To Darkstar this was a sign that Streamclan was allying with Lakeclan.

Scareyes gave birth to three kits, something Shadowstrike felt much pride in seeing. But sadly within a few days of birth one of the youngest she-kits was stolen from camp before her eyes were even opened. The queen’s mentor was almost as frantic as his apprentice was. While Darkstar did nothing to search for the kit Shadowstrike organized a party in hope of scenting whoever may have taken it…but it was impossible to find the young one.

Time went on and Scareye’s kits grew to become apprentices known as Blackpaw and Ashpaw. In the meantime to deputy had his attention turned towards his own secret mate. Turned out Silverdrop was expecting kits! HIS KITS!

Shadowstrike was joyful but worried at the same time, with the war still going on and him not knowing how many lives his father truly had lost before his deputyship he knew his kits would be at risk. But what he feared but expected the least to happen well…happened. And it was caused by his very own father.

Shimmerpool, Silverdrop’s sister was also pregnant with Lightningstrike’s kits. The she-cat had overheard Darkstar and a Lakeclan warrior plotting on evening to do something terrible weaken Boulderstar. The Lakeclan queen was discovered and forced to flee, and that’s when she came across her sister who was returning from a meeting with Shadowstrike. Forced to choose between her sister Silverdrop decided to take Shimerpool’s place so that the queen could escape. She was slaughtered by Darkstar who couldn’t tell the difference between the two, her kits dying along with her… Scared that the leader may learn the truth Shimmerpool hid away and did not return to her clan.

Shadowstrike suspected nothing, he thought the reason why his mate suddenly stopped meeting him was because she had likely moved into the nursery and could no longer leave camp without a warrior following her to make sure the kits would be safe.

A few moons later a great flood occurred, killing off several cats in Stoneclan and Lakeclan’s leader Boulderstar. The new leader Lightningstar did not take the war against Stoneclan as lightly as his predecessor did. Having lost both Silverdrop and Shimmerpool the tom decided to ally with Streamclan and declare war against Stoneclan….this was to be Shadowstrike’s final battle.

Many cats including whole families died, and many suffered from severe injuries. But before the fight could escalade any further Shimmerpool stepped up, calling halt to the fight and forcing Lightningstar and Darkstar to stop their attacks. The Stoneclan leader was slightly amused by the near birth queen’s efforts, so he decided to listen to what she had to say…not expecting this to be his final mistake.

Shimmerpool described what she had seen that night and told the clans of Silverdrop’s sacrifice at Darkstar’s claws. Even Darkstar’s own warriors were horrified by their leader’s doing, but their reaction was not nearly as bad as Shadowstrike’s.

The Stoneclan deputy was shaking from all over, when finally he gained enough strength to react all he felt was anger. He declared openly to his father what he felt about him and then proceeded to attack Darkstar.

No cat intervened, it was a fight between leader and deputy, father and son. It was not something any cat was allowed to stop. Besides it was clear to all Darkstar was not fighting back as his son took away one more of his lives. But then Shadowstrike surprised them all, he took a step back, refusing to kill a leader while he was down. However Darkstar no longer seemed to want to live on, he demanded that his son take his last life, which the still feral acting tom gladly did.

Scareye was the first to speak up when Darkstar stopped breath, breaking Shadowstrike from his thoughts. The tom’s apprentice seemed glad that he had ended their misery and that now he would become new Stoneclan leader. But that’s not what Shadowstrike wanted.

Darkstar’s son turned to face his clan, declaring to them that he would not replace his father as Stoneclan’s new leader. Glancing at his apprentice, he smiled, Scareyes had lost her mate to Streamclan’s hatred towards Stoneclan and her daughter Ashpaw had been killed during the fight. Announcing to the entire assembling including Streamclan and Lakeclan he made Scareye the new leader of Stoneclan.

And then he proceeded to declare that he was leaving the clan territory for good, exiling himself from his own clan.

Loner-hood

After leaving his home Shadowstrike set out to explore the land surrounding his territory. First he started out by secretly vising every other clan’s land and when he got bored with that the loner moved on to travel the land beyond the clans. It was easy to get lost, but eventually after going in  circles and finding himself back in clan land Shadowstrike managed to make his way to the twolegplace. There he set out changing the lives of cats who lived there. Whenever Shadowstrike came across a cat in need he would help out. This was how he came to befriend an abandoned kittypet known as Blueberry.

Blueberry wasn’t the brightest around the block but she possessed a sweet humour that made the mysterious warrior seem more welcoming to other cats. The kittypet fell for Shadowstrike almost as soon as they met and pretty much announced she would be traveling with him, not arguing.

They continued their routing for a few moons, either training together or helping other cats out…that is until Shadowstrike began receiving these strange dreams that haunted his sleeping hours. At first he passed them off as nightmares as the dreams tended to be about cats he knew. But gradually they began to change to cats he had never met before, cats who would do something terrible or be done something terrible to…usually revolving around death. After a moon of those nightmares the two began to suspect they may be signs from Starclan and Blueberry finally stepped forward, insisting that they return to clan territory to investigate what was up.

At first Shadowstrike refused, not wanting to return to the place he not only dreaded but was having nightmares of. So gradually Blueberry began to use their routines to get the tom further from the twolegplace and closer to home. But still the exiled deputy refused to give in to the kittypet’s wishes.

Things all changed when the two cats came across a loner who was being chased by a dog. After saving the she-cat the two learned that she was called Milky-way. Milky-way resembled Blueberry like a sister but was closer to Shadowstrike in the way that both were loners and both were plagued by the same nightmare visions of the clans.

The three cats talked, wanting to stick near another cat with the same abilities as her Milky-way joined the group…and having figured out these may not be just nightmares Shadowstrike finally made up his mind: They would be returning to the clans.

~The Crew and The League~

It was midwinter by the time the three cats arrived even near clan territory, and in the harsh weather they were struggling to move on…in fact they were so exhausted that they all ended up fainting in the snow. They likely would have died if they were discovered by a few other loners who took them to safety.

During his recovery Shadowstrike was plagued with worse dreams than before, but this time they involved a group of rogues. The tom would have likely continued to have those nightmares if he had not received a “visit” from his dear father.

Darkstar had joined the Darkforest, and he was almost the only one left…and that made him unhappy. The evil leader proceeded to taunt his son, mocking him over how helpless he was. Things may have gotten out of hand if a strange companion did not step in to intervene.

After awaking Shadowstrike found himself face to face with Paradox, a loner who had tried her best to learn medicine from scratch. Paradox was not entirely in her right mind, she tended to talk nonsense and easily go off subject. But it was immediately clear to him she knew more than she was showing.

Paradox’s brother, a large tom known as Bane had been the one to save the three from the cold. Turned out he and a few other loners had grouped together into a crew where everyone helped each other. And the founder of the crew was none other than Shadowstrike’s mother…Gravity.

Gravity had forsaken her clan name and only went by her loner name. The she-cat wasn’t entirely happy to see her son around, especially since he gave off an aura of courage which challenged her authority over the crew. Soon after the tom was able to move she forced her son to leave, telling him he wasn’t allowed to stay even if Blueberry and Milky-way were still recovering.

The tom did not complain, he knew that Darkstar’s mate wouldn’t offer him a happy reunion, and he wasn’t going to stick around to announce the new to his mother that he had been the one to kill his father. So Shadowstrike was off…and alone, but not for long.

A rogue spy known as Singe had overheard their conversation and view the exiled deputy as a possible valuable member to the League if she could convince him to join. Too afraid to reveal herself to the tom on her own Singe went to ask for the help of a fellow rogue…or more a superior Vice known as Glint.

Glint was not the one to wait around to talk things through, she went with Singe to meet the tom and proceeded to attack him. Knocking Shadowstrike out so she could drag him back to camp as a prisoner.

When Shadowstrike woke up he was faced with an offer, join the rogues. The grey tom was taken aback by his brusque greeting and immediately refused the offer, having no idea as to who the rogues were and what they aimed to do. A guard was put up and Shadowstrike only received a few visits from high ranking rogues who tried their best to make him accept the proposition. One of those rogues was Glint, who at first Shadowstrike had wanted to kill for having attacked him. The two found each other infuriating and the result was Glint went storming out of the den.

That night the two shared a vision and Shadowstrike learned that Glint was going through the same thing that Milky-Way and him were. The two talked in the Darkforest for a little and Glint tried to convince him to join their side…but before the tom could make up his mind Darkstar came along scaring the exiled deputy into waking up.

After waking up Shadowstrike received the visit of the rogue leader himself, when yet again he refuses Thornheart announces that in the morning he was to be executed by Glint.

This left Shadowstrike with a little time to himself…which he spent talking with his guard. The guard was a young golden tom known as Shadow. He had grown up his whole life as a rogue and knew nothing other than that. The two exchanged information, Shadowstrike learned about the rogues and what they were doing and Shadow learned that the clans were more than just a bunch of code forcing savages. The two became friends and making up his mind Shadow helped the exiled deputy to escape his prison.

The morning when Glint came to kill the tom she was attacked by her sister Dove (who had finally figured out that Glint was the one who had murdered their father). This gave Shadowstrike to opportunity to escape and with the help of Shadow who pretended to chase after him to confuse their scents he managed to get away.

Having faced the dangers of his visions himself Shadowstrike decided he had to return to the loner’s crew side to discuss it with Milky-way, he did not care about how his mother would react as he knew he could always leave with his friends to get to a safer place.

But by the time he arrived at the Crew’s camp he was greeted by a group of rogues lead by Glint herself, the rogues had come to force the loners to join them. Understanding the dangers his friends were in Shadowstrike carefully made his way to Milky-way and Blueberry’s side, only to be recognized by the rogue vice who proceeded to chase after the three cats.

Glint was ruthless, she chased Milky-way who tried her best to escape the rogues only to be swept away by a river instead. Angered Shadowstrike attacked Glint unaware that Blueberry was doing her best to help him out too. Having the advantage over the kittypet Glint decided to ignore the attacking loner and did her best to wound Bluberry as well as she could until she believed the kittypet would die.

Satisfied of her revenge Glint decided to leave Shadowstrike to mourn, but the loner was too stubborn to give up. He carried the wounded she-cat to the closest clan he could find…and that was none other than Lakeclan.

Recognizing the cat who had killed their worst enemy Lakeclan welcomed Shadowstrike opened pawed and took care of healing Blueberry’s wounds. Mistypaw, medicine cat apprentice at the time was able to prove to her mentor that she could deal with urgent cases on her own, this earned her the name of Mistyblaze as she became full fledge medicine cat.

A few moons went on where the two recovered, Shadowstrike met up with Glint in her dreams, gradually the two went from bickering to just talking…and that’s when Glint began to flirt with him, trying her best to coo at him and to convince him to join her side. Surprisingly enough, Shadowstrike was rather oblivious to the she-cat’s actions, he did not take much notice in her soft talk as she did not bother to confess her feeling about him.

Finally when he could move freely around Lakeclan camp the tom, confident that his kittypet friend would be in safe care, left his old friends to search for Milky-Way. The tom had to search high and low for her but finally he found her, changed. Milky-Way seemed distant, sad. She confessed that she was the sister of Alaister, a Darkforest cat who’s aim was to bring the destruction of the clans. She knew that Alaister was meeting with a high ranked rogue as well as a clan leader *coughSilverstarcough*.

Knowing no better way to comfort her Shadowstrike began to tell her about his past and how his father was Alaister’s companion. The two were both the last DarkForest cats. What he was unaware of was that gradually as he tried his best to comfort the she-cat Milky-Way was moving closer to him, snuggling right up. The tom was oblivious to the fact she was in love with him and carried on talking, eventually getting tired and telling her they should move before a rogue found them.

The two made their way through Shallowclan territory where he came across two siblings known as Ratfang and Platinumfire. Ratfang was a rather violent cat and would have preferred to attack the two loners if his sister had not interfered by offering to lead them to the Pillars. On the way there Shadowstrike and Milky-Way were silent, listening to Ratfang as he mocked his sister. Finally when the tom lashed out at her saying she was too fat Shadowstrike spoke up, making fun of the tom for not noticing Platinumfire was pregnant with kits. Taken aback the two Shallowclaner left immediately back to camp, leaving the two loners to leave their territory on their own.

Meeting up with Blueberry the three friends began their search for the loners who had helped them. Finding Bane and Paradox the cat decided to rebuild the crew back to what it was before….but Gravity did not like that idea.

Having more experience with the rogues than most of the other loners did he set out to recruit more cats, especially those who didn’t want to become clan cats but refused the rogues’ ways. They weren’t very successful in their aim but during his search Shadowstrike came across a beautiful rogue exile known as Luna.

Luna used to be a Shallowclan apprentice known as Lunarpaw but had ran away from her home ever since her father had become overly abusive to her brother and her. She had lived most of her youth with the rogues and was one of their most trusted spies. At first when Shadowstrike invited her to become a part of his crew she happily agreed, thinking that if she managed to discover what the loners were preparing she could report back to her superiors. She convinced Shadowstrike to stand up to his mother, knowing fully well that the she-cat wouldn’t stand her son if he showed any intention of taking charge more than he had already.

 Gravity attacked her son, accusing him of being nothing better than Darkstar even was and that he was out to destroy her life just like he had done to his father. Having no choice but to fight back Shadowstrike blinded his mother, and when the she-cat still fought back as if there was no wound he had no choice but to kill her. During her dying moment Gravity continued to mock her son, telling him her two other children would become better cats than he ever was.

 ~The Broken Family~

 With Gravity out of the way Shadowstrike was forced to take charge of the crew, and surprisingly enough he was grateful for Luna’s advice. The two began to get close, Luna acting more as his advisor than any of his other friends did. Eventually it came where the rogue spy realized she possessed more feeling towards the grey tom than she did to the cats that she worked for. Without bothering to announce anything she cut ties with the rogues, but this catches the attention of Glint who decides to seek the she-cat out. The Vice and her rogue spoke briefly, Glint wanting more information to be revealed about the loners and their whereabouts so she could “talk” with Shadowstrike. Luna, aware of the way her superior seemed to be acting about the tom she was friends with refused to tell her anything, retorting that if Glint wanted to discuss anything with Shadowstrike she would have to work on seeking him out herself.

Realizing that she may have endangered the tom who trusted her Luna raced back to warn Shadowstrike about Glint’s attempt to track him down, she confessed as to how she used to be a spy for the rogues but had chosen to change because she had developed a thing for the tom. Taken aback the tom promised the she-cat he wouldn’t let Glint harm him or any of the other cats. They turn returned to camp where they continued their job as caring for the loners.

Time went by and Shadowstrike began to get worse visions, something involving cats littered all over the place, sometimes he would see Luna in his visions, dying in some horrible way. The tom rarely shared any dreams with Glint but when he did he tended to push the rogue away, telling her he was too preoccupied with his new job. Darkstar would take his opportunities to mock his son but slowly Shadowstrike was growing used to it, he was no longer scared of his father…in fact it seemed Darkstar was losing power, fading.

Moons waxed and waned and the time came when Luna discovered she was pregnant. A loner who was pretending to be a spy overheard came to warn them that there was talk among those in the League that in a few moons they rogues would attack the clans if they refused to join them. This had to be the massacre Shadowstrike had been seeing in his dreams.

When the final night came where the rogues began to gather Shadowstrike and the crew set off to stop them before they did anything terrible, afraid that a pregnant queen may be preyed upon by the rogues Shadowstrike ordered Luna to stay behind, not telling her that he had seen her die in several gruesome ways in his own dreams.

The Crew set off to stop the rogues, unaware they were walking straight to their doom, and stupid enough not to leave someone to guard the stubborn queen who was bound to follow them.

When Shadowstrike and his friends arrived to help the clans they were too late, the attack had already begun and many cats were dying around them. Those who were brave enough rushed into battle, ignoring Shadowstrike’s cries to hide or retreat, all those who turned against the rogues or clans were killed. Those who fled managed to escape alive even if with a few wounds. Milky-Way was one of the cats to disappear during the attack, her body never found and therefore impossible to know if she survived or not.

When he returned to camp Shadowstrike was horrified to discover Luna had left to track them down. Turned out while the Crew had been participating in or fleeing the attack the queen had gone into labour, forced to hide under a bush as cats fought everywhere. She was good at hiding and over the cries of dying cats and smell of blood no cat discovered her as she gave birth…but when the massacre was over and that the victorious rogues were on their way home…Luna was discovered by none other than Glint. The mother was dying from lack of medical care during the birth of her kit, Luna was hopeless and all she could do was taunt the Vice, her kit was alive for barely an hour and would easily die out in the wild. The mother hoped that at least if she were to die the Vice would see the kit as a way to raise new rogues, taking it to be raised in lies, even a life like that was better than death. So she told Glint who the father was, and the reaction was…less than expect.

Glint out of jealousy brutally kills the dying queen and leaves the young kit to die. Which would have happened if Paradox out of all cats had not found it.

The strange loner returned back to the crew with the young kit, in the best way she could the she-cat told them of how Luna had been killed by an unknown cat. Contrary to many Paradox didn’t seem to understand how emotions and interaction with others worked and did not feel any sadness over the she-cat’s death…but the news was enough the break Shadowstrike’s heart.

The tom felt like he had lead his friends to their death, he believed he did not deserve their trust or loyalty. He tried his best to live some time recovering, helping the queen who had kindly offered to care for his kit as best as he could. Deciding to name his daughter after Scarstar Shadowstrike named the kit Coal, as that was the name his brave apprentice should have had if it weren’t for the cruelty of his father.  

After the Massacre

Surprisingly enough, the visions disappeared as suddenly as they had come. Shadowstrike was free to sleep as he liked without receiving any gruesome dreams or any visits from his father.  But now he felt…empty. Alone without any purpose but to watch as those he had lead to war tried to recover from their injuries without proper medical care.

Making up his mind Shadowstrike left Coal under the care of Blueberry and Bane who had become mates after the battle. Deciding he would wander the clan territory alone, hoping he may find a way to help the clans without joining them as a blind soldier…maybe he could discover who Luna’s killer was? Secretly Blueberry made up her mind that she would raise the young kit to someday join her father’s side, maybe even take care of avenging Luna’s death herself.

And this is where Shadowstrike is now, alone and with very little purpose in life…he does not care about which clan territory he strays into but is careful not to hunt while on their borders…if he did he usually leaves the prey where somecat could find it so that they could use it to help the clan recover…